Relics
by Crystal di Angelo
Summary: Sequel to Attention, part of the Salty Ice Crystals Series. Odin visits Loki and discovers a mysterious bright blue puddle on the floor, Loki huddled as far away from it as possible. It was glowing, pulsing with a magic he had never seen before...


_**Hi. Those who have read the other two fics in the Salty Ice Crystals Series should know what kind of stage I'm setting. Next fic up will be called 'Inquiries and Misgivings'. The Avengers make an appearance and Clint nearly puts Loki's eye out. Of course, that's a different story.**_

_**For now, I present…Odin Allfather, worse father in history. Get the pun? I wonder…how in the Nine Realms did he get this title?!**_

* * *

_Salty Ice Crystals  
_

_**Relics**_

_Loki, what in the Nine Realms is ailing you?_

It was the Allfather's first thought when he entered the cell to a shivering Loki and a puddle of strange, blue liquid on the floor. Loki was huddled in a corner, as far away from the liquid as he could get.

"Explain this." Odin commanded. It was in his nature to command, not to love. He was born and bred to be a king, not a father. A real father would have immediately ordered the guards to open the door, regardless of the risks and barged in, to hold Loki in his arms and soothe him. But try as he might, Odin simply could not see himself in such a position. With Thor he could, albeit with some effort, but he knew how Thor would react. He wasn't so sure of Loki. The boy might push him away or hug back.

In simpler words, Odin Allfather feared rejection from Loki.

It was laughable, in fact, that Odin was in truth as fragile as his adopted son. Neither would dare show affection to the other, and yet they would secretly long for the other to make the first move. Hence the near irreparable relationship.

Loki flinched and looked up, eyes wide. Then he did a double take when he used his hands to steady himself on the wall. Almost as if experimentally, he brought up a hand and repeatedly clenched and unclenched it.

Odin grew annoyed. If Loki ignored him like this, it could mean that Loki was preparing to rebel. "Loki! Answer me!"

The fallen prince gave a start at this and his hands leapt up to shield his face before he realized that it was only Odin and lowered them guardedly. "What?"

Odin's patience was stretched thin. He did not plan on wasting too much time here. It was only to check up on his youngest son, and it was unbecoming of a king to spend too much time on a lost cause.

"I said," Odin repeated. "Explain this." He gestured at the blue puddle on the floor. "How did you get it in and what do you plan to do with it?"

Loki threw his head back and laughed. Odin almost took a step back by reflex; it was too unexpected and bone-chilling. It was almost as if something had gone according to his plans or in his favor.

"What do I plan to do with it?" He asked in an unnaturally high voice. "To do with it? What do I want to do with something that I have tried to get rid of for the past few months?!"

Odin's brow furrowed. Something was not quite right here.

"Tell me what happened. Please." It was a request, not a command. Odin was learning.

Loki was more subdued now. "Would you believe me, even if I told you the truth?" he demanded. "Loki _Liesmyth_, Loki _Silvertongue_, do you truly think that you can trust me?"

Odin's voice was soft. "Yes." He really wanted this chance to repair their broken relationship.

Loki looked at the puddle. "Get this thing out of here first, won't you?"

Odin waved a hand, casting a vanishing spell, but to his surprise, not a drop disappeared.

"Of course it won't be that easy…" Loki murmured, staying well away from it. "Get me out of here. I don't want to be anywhere near it."

"What does it do?" Odin did not like this. It might all just be a ploy to escape.

Loki huffed impatiently. "Makes me lose control of my body, get violently sick, kill all that is in my way, et cetera. Satisfied?" At the moment, he would do anything just to leave that cell and put at least a world between him and that revolting blue liquid.

Odin looked at Loki suspiciously before remembering his earlier claims. "Guards," he sighed. "Unlock the cell."

Loki shot out of the cell as soon as the door was unlocked and slammed into an invisible shield Odin put there just in case. The shield gave Loki an electric shock and his eyes widened before he slumped to the floor, eyes closing. "You said…you trusted me…"

Odin's blood went cold.

"Healers." He ordered. "Take Prince Loki to the healing rooms."

He stressed the 'Prince', knowing that it was all he could do to compensate. Loki had trusted him not to put shields on, but…

What if Loki's intent really was on escaping? Odin, as a ruler of Asgard, should always take precautions.

Loki should understand. After all, Odin was born to be a ruler, a king, not to be a father. It was common knowledge, after all. Made common by Loki himself.

* * *

"Loki, oh, Loki." Frigga smoothed his cut hair gently, pressing kisses to his pale forehead. "I knew you were lying, but I should have seen this. I should have known."

As soon as the blue liquid was cleaned up and samples of it collected to show Frigga, Frigga had instantly known what it was. Of all places in the open space, why did Loki have to fall to that place in particular? Hasn't her baby boy gone through enough?

What mystified the healers was why Loki wasn't waking up. It was only an electric shock, after all.

Well, Frigga knew, but she could do nothing to help.

According to her theory, that electric shock must have triggered something-leftover poison from Thanos in his system? Bad memories? The aftershock? What the Midgardians call PTSD? Frigga suspected that something more was at work, something that hasn't been revealed yet.

But for now Frigga could only sit helpless by her son's bed and help to cool his body, which was radiating so much heat that was alarming even for Asgardians. For now, all they could give Loki was peace and quiet and pray that he would be strong enough to fight whatever was ailing him.

_Then_ Frigga could scold Odin.

"Brother!" Thor's voice came echoing even from the other side of the corridor outside. Frigga sighed. It seems that even Loki's peace and quiet will not last long. The doors burst open, revealing Thor in all his fury. "I heard you tried to escape your cell and Father was forced to stop you! Brother, listen and listen well-"

"He cannot listen." Frigga interrupted sharply. "He is, as you can clearly see but didn't, unconscious. He needs rest. And quiet. None of which you are providing."

"I demand an explanation." Thor persisted, though he lowered his voice.

Frigga sighed tiredly. "Ask your father. Press him for every detail. Then come to me and I will explain Loki's illness the best I could."

"Illness?" Thor asked, voice even softer, coming closer to his brother's sickbed. "The Norns. I did not notice."

"You do not notice much about your brother, Thor. Neither did I. Or else he would not have fallen into this state." Frigga said, wincing as she remembered how Loki referred to himself as a relic left to be forgotten.

Thor lowered his head. "I will do as you ask. And I will return to check on Loki."

"Just don't make too much fuss about it." Frigga advised as he left. "It will not do for the whole of Asgard to be as confused as we are."

Thor bowed at the door. "I will keep that in mind, Mother."

After Thor left, Frigga leaned over Loki. "I know you've been awake for the past five minutes, Loki. You can't hide anything from your Mother."

Loki opened his mischievous green eyes, tilting his head slightly on the pillow to face his mother. "Of course." He stated tiredly. "Why am I so cold? Is it possible for one of…_them_ to feel cold?"

Frigga tucked the blanket in and touched Loki's skin. It was still burning hot. Her brow furrowed. "Loki, you're _burning up_! And Loki, it is no shameful matter to speak of the Jotunn. Do not refer to them as if they are mere monsters. They feel, they love, they cry. Just like us."

Loki looked at her doubtfully. "That is not what Thor said."

Frigga filled a glass of warm water. "Thor was foolish then. Still is in some matters. Drink."

Loki drank obediently before snuggling into the blankets again. "What happened?"

"No one knows." Frigga shot him a pointed look. "We were hoping that you could tell us."

Loki sighed, pushing the glass away with trembling fingers. "You can do nothing to help, Mother. It would just be a burden on your mind if I told you. Let it be and think of me as the monster I am."

Frigga sighed. Years of criticizing and belittling the Frost Giants hadn't helped. Frigga had gone against it in the first place, but Odin didn't want his children to feel different from the other Aesir children. Well, look how well that had gone now.

She hoped that it wasn't too late to fix.

"Loki," Frigga pressed gently. "Thor will wring the answer out of you if I can't."

Loki sighed. "Very well. But I do not know much either. All I know that they forced the blue liquid down my throat, saying that this will bind me to them to ensure that I will not fail them. They said that if I failed, they would make me a pretty little relic for their children to…_play_ with."

Frigga didn't interrupt, though her mind was churning with questions. She feared that once stopped, she might never get Loki to speak on the subject anymore. Usually the head healer would chide anyone who tried to push Loki like that, but this was Queen Frigga, and she must know what is best for her youngest son. Wounds that are left to fester heal longer, after all.

"And after that they hid my conscious away and did something with my body-I know not what. It was when the green monster of rage hit me did it jolt my conscious into action. I was still unable to control myself fully and began to slowly gain my body back after I was put into that cell. Did the Allfather enchant it against magic?"

Frigga answered simply and quickly. "Yes."

"I just couldn't take it anymore, and after Thor's visit I…gorged myself on food. I needed to get that foul thing out. I had pieced things together from what my mouth said and your words. My conclusion was that the liquid was somehow a connection to me and them, so unused to food as I was, I quickly dislodged it. That was when Odin came in, and you can ask him what had transpired from there."

Loki took in a deep breath, calming himself, readying himself for the rejection that would come, the words denying his statement. To his surprise, warm arms enveloped around him.

"Oh, Loki, you silly, silly child." Frigga breathed into his hair. His hair still remained as raven as ever, as beautiful as she remembered they were on the first day she saw him and fell in love. "You had some semblance of control, did you not? Why did you not tell us? Why, after regaining control, did you not tell your father?"

"I was afraid he would not believe me." Loki murmured, fingers curling in Frigga's long and curly hair. Golden and beautiful, everything that he would never achieve.

Frigga squeezed her son even closer before finally releasing him, looking into his eyes. "I do not know what your father will think. But be sure of this-he will get a good telling off for this."

Loki laughed and immediately burst into a bout of coughing. Frigga pushed him back down onto the bed. "Now rest. I have a tongue lashing to give and I cannot be focused on my task if my beloved youngest is unwell and not getting enough rest."

"Yes, Mother." Loki smiled playfully before his eyes slid close.

Frigga exited the healing chambers, specifically informing the healers to keep Thor away. She would tell Thor herself, later, after Odin is dealt with. The King of Asgard and Protector of the Nine Realms needs a woman to keep him in line, after all.

* * *

"I will smash them all with Mjolnir!" Thor roared, smashing the table instead of _them_. "They have harmed a Prince of Asgard, the rightful heir of Jotunheim, the Son of Odin and the greatest Sorcerer in all of the Nine Realms! We will not tolerate this!"

Frigga looked sternly at him. "Thor. The table is not them. And we have no idea who they are, although I have a few theories. And we need your father's approval. We also need Loki to heal. We need an antidote for Loki's illness too. The healers are mystified."

Thor's shoulders slumped. "What ails Loki?"

Frigga shrugged. "We suspect that it may be the after effects of the blue liquid, or they may have done something else to him while his conscious was stashed away. Maybe whatever your friends on Midgard launched at his body had an effect on him. All we can do now is do our best to find an antidote and wait for Loki to heal and Odin to come to his senses. You might want to take Loki back to Midgard and consult the Avengers, I heard that was what they named themselves, right?"

"I will do that, Mother!" Thor brightened at the prospect of finally doing something to help his little brother. "I will be requesting Father's permission immediately!"

"And make sure Loki's well enough for the trip, Thor!" Frigga called to his retreating back.

"Have no worries, Mother. Loki is not a relic to me. He is a sensitive and emotional, but above all, beloved little brother." Thor smiled.

* * *

_**And…done. Ooh, I can't wait to bring Tony into the story. I love writing his cool and sarcastic self!**_


End file.
